


Of Sapience and Sentience

by nyacat39



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alien Abduction, Aliens, Friendship, Gen, Outer Space, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2020-07-25 11:44:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20025274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyacat39/pseuds/nyacat39
Summary: When Cassandra “Casey” Boswell woke up, the last thing she expected was to be in a cage on a space ship filled with aliens... Let alone making friends with one, or even getting involved with things outside of her own home planet. Will she find a way home, or some answers to some mysteries from her past? And what is the story behind her new alien friend Iknar? (Rating and tags will change/be added to as time goes on)





	1. Chapter 1

** _Chapter 1:_ **

_ What… happened?  _ These were the first thoughts that crossed the mind of a 16 year old girl as she slowly woke up on a cold, steel like floor. Her tanned fingers slowly reaching up to her scalp, through her neck length dark auburn hair, and presses against the pounding feeling in her brain. Hazel eyes slowly began to take in her surroundings more, only to widen in shock at what she saw.

The uncomfortable metal flooring was extended to the wall behind her as well as the ceiling above her, while what appeared to be metal bars made up the walls to her left and right… separating her from two creatures of unknown origins, while in front of her appeared to be bars made of pure light. From what she could see from the bars there were many other cages, all made exactly like her own… each one holding creatures, ranging from a few familiar ones like the brown bear on an upper right corner, to creatures she could barely describe like the one on her left, and even still there were ones that seemed to have been forged from the nightmares of a collective consciousness like the thing above the cage right in front of her.

Heart racing and still only barely registering half of what she was seeing as truth, the teenager raised both hands to her face and slapped her own cheeks a couple of times with her eyes squeezed shut. As soon as she finished with the third slap, her hazel eyes opened up again only to find her surroundings still the exact same.

“Shit… how the hell did I end up here?” she quietly muttered to herself, looking down and taking note of her faded jeans that had a fairly new looking rip in the left knee, the dried up mud coating her once black and white converse. Her blue gradient shirt had signs of a ketchup stain or two but could be covered by the black zip up sweatshirt with the Fall Out Boy band logo on it.

_ Okay Casey, think… what is the last thing you remember.  _ The girl thought to herself, her gaze moving over to her right just enough to see the creature inside as her thoughts tried to organize themselves…. Though also getting distracted by how this small creature looked.

It couldn’t have been bigger then Two feet in height, with a monkey like body shape, six limbs, a long curled tail that seemed to be covered in the same glowing green and yellow fur the creature had. It seemed to have racoon like hands and feet, but it seemed to be mixed with gecko like features. Bulbous looking orange ringed eyes stared up at her from a surprisingly cute looking face, as it’s semi-triangular head tilted this way, and that while looking her over, large rounded ears twitching a little here and there as well with each head tilt.

_ Okay… Okay I think it’s coming back. First I was… I was heading out to the clearing in the woods to do some stargazing. I got some Micky D’s before I got there… I was, I was setting up when-  _

Casey’s line of thought stopped there at the sound of an automated door opening somewhere nearby. Head snapping up towards the sound, she barely registered the little thrills and chirp like noises the creature on her right was making, instead focusing on the sound of foot falls on the metal floor just beyond her cage.

One set sounded like they were wearing steel toed boots with how they clacked against the floor, while the other sounded relatively normal, but heavy as if there was some extra weight put down on each step. Her first thought was to call out to whoever, or whatever, was approaching but looking at where she was now as well as what surrounded her, Casey instead choose to keep her mouth shut and instead listen in.

Now that she thought about it, the entire area seemed to be surprisingly quiet aside from the noises the… possible owners of the footsteps. Sure there were a few animalistic noises, like a roar from the grizzly bear, a screech from a possible monkey somewhere further down the rows, the thrilling chirps of the creature on her right and a few other unidentifiable sounds… but what stuck out was the sound of what had to be a conversation between two beings in… in what Casey could only assume was a language of some kind.

The first voice in this conversation had a deep, almost booming tone to… to whatever it was saying as to her ears it almost sounded like it was speaking gibberish from a speaker giving it a bit of an echoed quality. 

The second one she swore couldn’t have even been speaking at all with the higher tone of voice making an almost whistling like noise, with a few audible things that vaguely sounded like words.

As soon as the two beings got within the human girls range of sight, it was like the one thing she was vaguely trying to remember finally hit her like a brick wall and suddenly the strange creatures trapped in cages around her made even more sense.

“I was abducted by fucking aliens….” 

Feelings ranging from excitement, satisfaction, fear, and anger welled up inside her leaving her physically unable to process just what she was supposed to be feeling with the two aliens that abducted her.

The one that spoke in the deeper tone seemed to have a vaguely frog like head with four round eyes, spines jutting out above the eye ridges and down the back of its neck, needle like fangs in a mouth that looked like it could fit a watermelon in it and still have room. It was large and heavy set with some kind of metal contraption around its neck that had some tubes connecting to a pack on its back, some lilac colored liquid seemed to flow through them every time the creature seemed to breath. The things legs were thick like tree trunks, ending in what she could only assume were boots over it’s rounded feet. It’s arms were just as thick, even through the jacket it seemed to wear, it seemed to only have three bulbs fingers on its hands that ended in rounded digits connecting in a thin strand of webbing. A heavy tail with the same spines that were on the head jutting out on the area connecting to the spine was seen swishing slowly behind it.

It’s companion was much different looking as it was tall, spindly and almost bird like in appearance if it wasn’t for the insectile mandibles that replaced the beak. Feather like protrusions stuck out from the rounded head in a style that Casey could vaguely remember being called a “mullet” by her stepfather when he wore one when she was little. It’s arms were long and segmented like an exoskeleton also had some of these same feathery protrusions running down and around joints, but stopping short of the threatening looking claws that made up its four fingered hands. It seemed to have four legs that all stood on feet that were more talon like an ostrich’s foot, each digit making a bit of a click with each step.

Both wore a similar outfit with minor differences here and there on what looked like insulated jackets, form fitting tops and bottoms that reminded the human of cargo pants with multiple pockets. They both also seemed to have some kind of gun at their sides as well. 

After taking in these observations and now just trying to get over the shock of having been actually abducted ... as well as the shock of realizing aliens actually do exist, Casey barely registered how the feathered insectoid creature stopped right in front of her cell. 

It’s mandibles clicked and moved as it seemed to speak to the, possibly, amphibious alien as it’s golden eagle like eyes looked her over from top to bottom.

The amphibious one bellowed something back in its own language, leaving Casey to slowly start to ponder something with narrowed eyes.

_ How the hell do they understand each other? They’re not the same species and nothing they say seems to be even close to each other’s language… Unless it’s some kind of alien bull shit and they can just automatically understand one another.  _

She soon began glaring at the aliens, even though she still had no idea what they were saying, Casey could still tell the conversation was about her… and it didn’t help when the feathered insectoid seemed to laugh, in a squawking way that reminded her of a seagull, at something in said conversation.

“Fucking bastards…” the human muttered, barely loud enough for the echo of the haul she was in to carry the words from her cage. She scooted herself closer to the solid wall of her cage, mostly so she could avoid looking at her captours, but also in an effort to try and make herself comfortable while sitting. Her mind began to drift a bit as soon as she heard footsteps outside of her cage walk away, and the voices slowly faded along with them.

_ …. What’s mom thinking right now? Oh geez what’s Claire thinking now? Frank?  _ Casey slowly realized, her heart now painfully clenching as she thought of how her family was taking her disappearance… did they realize she was gone? What did she tell them before she went stargazing? So many questioned raked at her brain, but one stuck out for the fact is was so clear… and wasn’t even like her normal thoughts at all.

_ “You appear to be handling this predicament that you’ve been dragged into.”  _ The tone to it was emotionless, and as if her ears themselves had heard it, it had a hint of an alto tone to it giving a bit more of a masculine vibe even though it seemed more non the edge of androgynous.

“Huh? What?” Casey couldn’t help but question out loud, now rubbing at one of her temples in confusion.  _ Where the hell did that come from? _

_ “The predicament you have been dragged into. Most other beings are irrational and attempt to escape, or pleading with their captors. You on the other hand appear to be handling this rationally.” _

Suddenly jolting up into a standing position from the quick confirmation that she was actually hearing a real voice in her head, hazel eyes quickly snapping to anything and everything around her.

“What… What the hell?”

_ “In the cage right in front of you.” _

Turning her gaze to the very direction that was told to her she finally paid attention to the creature that was within. Laying on the ground was a creature that honestly looked more like a corpse from how thin it was. Ribs could be seen, along with a bony back and bony limbs that had four claws that were shaped like elongated fingers on the front two limbs while the back limbs had two talons in the front and a single one in the back to make up the feet. It’s back legs bent at an angle that suggested the creature could go from quadrupedal to bipedal with the long thin tail, tipped with a blade like protrusion, to act as a balance. It’s head was an oblong oval shaped with two bony protrusions near the top of part of the skull, above the connection to the neck. It’s shoulders and hips seemed to also have these bony protrusions poking out from the sides, as well as the forearms and legs as well, though they seemed to be larger on those parts.

“The… the corpse? No offence but-” Casey began with narrowed eyes while looking at the pale grey creature… only to get surprised as it’s oval shaped eyes opened up, revealing pools of reflective black that looked directly at her as the once unmoving body shifted into a sitting position just across from her. It’s head tilted slightly to it’s right as it’s large eyes blinked while she stared in shock at the creature.

“What… what are you?! How the hell-”

_ “This one reccommends that you keep your vocal processor low to not alert the ones who run this ship.”  _ The voice, no this thing’s, words cut her off with it’s monotoned calm. Letting out a small huff but obliging the thing’s recommendation, Casey began again with a lower tone.

“How can I understand you? How the hell can you understand me for that matter?”

_ “A simple mind scan. One of the many traits the Argoka have obtained over the many generations. We use it to look into one’s mind and obtain the understanding of their native tongue. It is also how we communicate, though whatever you are is unable to properly connect thus, this one is only able to get a basis of language and communication. Nothing deeper.”  _

Feeling a little uncomfortable at the intrusion of one of her most personal places, but at least reassured that this… Argoka, couldn’t actually read her deeper thoughts… probably, Casey just cleared her throat a bit as if trying to clear away her discomfort. 

“So… You know what we’re here for? On this ship I mean…”

_ “You and many other creatures of lesser intellect are here as… merchandise while this one is to be sold off for science.”  _ The Argoka explained, seeming to ignore the quick “Hey!” at the “lesser intellect” comment as it’s head tilted to the left slowly with another blink and it “spoke” again.  _ “What species are you? The hive has never gathered information on a species such as yours before.” _

_ Oh right… I’m as much an alien here to… him? Yeah, he seems more like a him… as he is to me.  _ Casey thought in quiet realization. Real life wasn’t like movies after all.

“Well… I’m a human, from a planet we call Earth.” Casey explained, slowly getting back into a sitting position facing the alien she was conversing with. “And… you’re an Argoka… what exactly is an Argoka?”

_ “We are a species that travels the stars to make new hives. Many planets know of us, though it is interesting to meet a species who knows not. How many suns does your planet have in orbit?” _

“Just the one… wait how many planets out there have more than one?”

_ “That answers many inquiries this one had. There are many planets in many systems with more than one, very few with no sun and an average amount with only one sun. Argoka larvae do not usually last long on planets with less than two suns.” _

Casey began to settle down a lot as she found a rhythm for the conversation with her fellow trapped alien. She would ask a question about space, he gave a surprisingly detailed answer, he would ask her a question and she would do the same, to the best of her ability of course…. though she did have one question that was bugging her about, maybe an hour or so into a conversation about the lands of the planets each grew up on. 

“Hey… I never got your name.”

_ “Name?”  _ His head tilted with a slow blink once again.

“Yeah… you know what others of your kind call you?” Casey responded, feeling a little curious about how her… friend maybe, seemed to be confused by something she assumed was a completely normal thing.

_ “... Ah yes, this one's designation is Iknar.”  _

“Iknar Huh? Cool, my names Cassandra Boswell, though I go by Casey for short.” Casey smiled for the first time since she woke up.

Iknar tilted his head and blinked for a moment, a thinking motion he seemed to have that Casey picked up during their conversation.

_ “You…. shorten your designation? For what reason?” _

“Hey, the name Cassandra’s a mouth full, Casey’s easier to say. Plus I always feel like I’m gonna get some kind of lecture when someone calls me Cassandra.” Casey shrugged watching how the Argoka’s tail seemed to flick a little as he seemed to process this for a moment. However whatever Iknar was probably about to “say” seemed to die when his head turned to his left and he began to shift back to how he was laying on the metal flooring when she had first seen him.

_ “The ones who run this ship are arriving with nourishment. Give no indication that this one is alive once they enter.” _

“... Wait, what?” Casey questioned, only able to watch as her new friend close his reflective black eyes and go back to being like a limp corpse. “Iknar? Iknar what the hell are you doing?”

_ “Acting shut down.” _

“Acting shut… What does that even mean? Do they think your dead or something?”

_ “Yes.” _

Casey for the life of her tried to wrap her head around what she just learned right now, she really did but it made no sense. Why would they think he was dead? Everything else in here was alive and well from what she could see, why did he have to act dead? Wait… didn’t he say something about “nourishment”?

_ Does… does he not want to eat food? Is it seriously that bad? Did… did he eat something he really didn’t like and they just thought he died? Is that why he’s so thin looking?!  _ Casey’s thoughts went practically a mile a minute trying to figure out this situation, she didn’t even notice when the door opened and a different alien then the ones that walked through before came in tossing strange spherical things into the cages… until the six limbed monkey on her right’s head split wide open into three segments and two long tendril like tongues whipped out and grabbed the spherical shaped food and pulled it in. It’s head snapped shut around it with an orange colored liquid dripping from the slits that made up it’s mouth.

“Aaand that’s going into my nightmares tonight…” Casey shuddered as she watched one of the tongues of the creature pop out around the slit near it’s left eye to lick up some of the juice. She swore she heard the alien that was tossing the food into the cages laugh, bringing back her earlier thoughts of the whole “alien bullshit”. 

_ Assholes  _ ** _can _ ** _ understand me… Great, just fucking great.  _ Casey thought, glaring at the retreating back of the alien before glancing down to see that it had seemed to leave her three different… Fruits maybe? One was the spherical one that had a green outside with orange swirls, an almost cone shaped one that was purple with reddish colored spots and one that vaguely looked like an apple… but was a charcoal grey color and didn’t look that appetizing in general.

“... This is a picky eaters worst nightmare I swear…” Casey muttered to herself, not even sure if the apparent food that was given to her was safe for  _ her  _ to eat. Far as she knew, one of them could very well poison her because she wasn’t made to eat it.

_ “The geramik fruit has the highest nutrition value of the three they gave you.”  _ Jumping in surprise from Iknar speaking to her again, Casey shot the pale grey alien a dirty look as he slowly shifted to be laying on his stomach… if he even had one with how thin he was really.

“Oh so I’m supposed to know what the germ fruit is, AND I can talk to you again?” 

_ “As the feeder of the ship is no longer within the vicinity and no others are coming into the room anytime soon, it is safe to do so again.”  _ Iknar explained, seeming to not get the sarcasm in Casey’s tone and just continued on.  _ “Also it is known as the geramik fruit, it is the largest one in between the others.” _

His claw pointed to the cone shaped fruit. Casey grimaced while looking at it, honestly she wasn’t hungry enough to even try alien fruit from god only knew where just yet… then again while directing her gaze over to the only other creature that she could converse with, her heart twisted in a bit of guilt while looking at his bony frame.

“... I’ll try it, but if I don’t like it I’m tossing it over to you Iknar.”

The bony alien gave a slow blink and tilted his head.

_ “It is the most nutritious of the three presented…. Why would you not eat the whole thing?” _

_ Is… Is he being serious right now?  _ Casey thought, confusion clear on her face. “Answer me this first… what makes you think the ger mink fruit, or whatever it is… is the most “nutritious” as you put it?”

_ “The geramik fruit is the one fuit that is commonly found in most galactic markets to be traded for currency. It is able to be consumed by many species with little irritation to their internal systems, and is high in vitamins.” _

Iknar seemed to go on a bit more about things that went over the teenager’s head with facts about the fruit. Casey didn’t really understand most of it at all to be honest.

“While that’s… neat and all… but what I meant is how do you know it would be good for me?”

_ “... It is nontoxic to a majority of species and the least likely to cause digestive issues.”  _ Though still monotone sounding, Casey couldn’t help but feel like her new friend was exasperated with her question and a small smile crossed her face again.

“Okay then. I’m still going to toss the rest over for you if I don’t like it though.” Ignoring the confused look the Argoka was sending her, Casey grabbed the cone shaped fruit that was about the same width as her hands. Looking it over for a good spot she could take a small bite out of, she soon settled on a side and bit down into the surprisingly soft flesh of the alien produce… only to feel like she had just bit into a lemon that was coated in vinegar and immediately turned to spit it out with a full body shudder.

Barely paying attention to the creature that seemed to go and eat the piece she spat out she turned her attention back to Iknar.

“Jesus Christ that was sour as hell!!” Casey shouted in complete discomfort.

_ “... Was this one wrong in estimating the safety of the fruit?”  _ Iknar questioned, looking more at the fruit as if it held all the answers at the moment.

“All I know is that it’s super sour! Blegh, I can still feel it on my tongue!” The human stuck her tongue out as if to try and wipe the taste away from it. 

_ “Is this…. Sour detrimental to human health?”  _ Iknar seemed to slowly stand, momentarily surprising Casey by how truly tall he was, though at the distance between them it was hard to gage the alien’s exact height compared to her 5’ 2” stature. She saw how his tail seemed to twitch as if concerned, perhaps… she wasn’t 100% sure on these signals quite yet.

“... You’re being serious aren’t you?”

_ “This one has only had the best interests in mind for you… if this “Sour” is bad for your species, then this one has made an error in judgment and-”  _

“Sour’s a taste thing Iknar.” Casey interrupted, watching as Iknar, who had walked over to the wall of his cage and seemed to be in the middle of a return trip to his original starting point, pause and look at her with a head tilt.

_ “Is… taste important?” _

“... Do… Do Argoka not taste things?” Casey was dumbfounded as Iknar simply blinked and then responded with:

_ “Is this… taste in regards to ingesting nourishment? The Argoka Larval state is where we usually need the most nourishment… this one hasn’t needed any since pupation.” _

“... So what you're saying is… Argoka don’t eat…” Casey stated while her mind added something else while staring at the skeletal like frame of her fellow captive alien.  _ I’m calling bullshit right now.  _

_ “We do not need to. The functions to do so are still present but unneeded and obsolete for use to Argoka.”  _

Casey remained silent for a moment, taking in what the alien had said about his species… but still honestly finding it hard to believe in general.

“So you used to eat… but don’t now.”

_ “Was this one’s explanation not clear? Apologies then, it is still difficult to calculate the correct wording for what little this one knows of your language.”  _

“No, it’s not… It’s not that, I’m just trying to understand it better.” Iknar blinked for a moment but said nothing, letting the teenager continue. “Alright… so when you were able to eat… what kind of food did you like?”

_ “This one ate whatever the nurse variants deemed best suited in nutrients, in the hive this one was hatched into.”  _

“Okay… But what specifically did you  **like ** in the… “best nutrients” given to you?” 

_ “.... This one doesn’t understand…. What is this word that the one known as Casey keeps using?” _

Needless to say, if Casey was dumbfounded by how Iknar didn’t need to eat, then she was absolutely feeling her brain turning to near mulch from the fact he didn’t understand what “Like” was of all things.

“You…. You seriously don’t know what “like” means? Like, you have nothing in your language that… I don’t know is similar to it?” Casey paid very close attention to every move the Argoka made to this new question she asked him. His head looking down for a minute, his long bladed tail swishing slowly and making almost question mark shapes in the air for a bit before swishing to the other side to do the same thing. His reflective black eyes narrowed as he seemed to be in deep thought and one of his four clawed hands reached up under his chin as he contemplated the meaning behind the simple little word.

_ “.... based on what you have said, this word… “Like” seems to have multiple meanings, one of which is a way to compare examples while the other meaning… escapes this one’s understanding.”  _

Casey was at a loss for words at this point… Was this just an alien thing? Or was it just an Argoka thing? Honestly seeing as she’s only ever spoken to one alien, that being Iknar himself, in her entire life she really had no other comparisons aside from movies she would watch back home on earth… and now there’s the feeling of homesickness and worry welling up in her chest.

_ No! Not now! Don’t think about it right now Casey! Focus… what’s the best way to explain… !  _ An idea hit her. Now she wasn’t sure how well it would work, but it was the best shot she had as she grabbed the other two fruits. As she grabbed the apple like fruit though one of her fingers barely brushed one of the bars made of light, and instantly her finger felt like it had just tapped itself on an oven’s hot surface, leaving a pain on her flesh that caused her to hiss momentarily. 

_ Well that answers one question… But still, FUCK that hurt!  _ The auburn haired teenager thought as she nursed the burn with what little she could do, before just pulling the blackened fruit towards her in a fit of annoyance. Doing her best to ignore the pain she held up the two fruits she didn’t try yet.

“Which of these two would you say is the next best in… nutrience for me?” 

_ “The garlekki root in the injured appendage.”  _ Iknar responded, pointing out the damned blackened apple and making Casey frown.

“That’s a root? Wait no forget it, not the point right now.” She soon took a small bite out of it, finding it a little tougher to get through then the geramik fruit… but unlike said fruit the apparent root had absolutely no flavor to it, leaving Casey a bit disappointed. She then looked at the rounded… for all she knew vegetable that was left then held it up for Iknar to see. “Anything on this one?”

_ “Quimmhe Fruit, common to find in more humid planets and bought mostly by those that prepare food, or keep creatures that primarily eat it in their diets.” _

“And it’s safe for me to eat, right?”

_ “Considering your reaction to the geramik fruit, this one is unsure with the current amount of data available.” _

“So you have no idea… Alright, then. I can just use these as examples then.” Casey sighed and set the rounded fruit down, only to pick up the sour fruit she had attempted to try earlier. “Okay so, take these two… food items for an example.”

The Argoka didn’t seem to say anything but did seem to pay more attention to what she was saying and doing now.

“The Gera… Fruit thing here is something I don’t like in compared to the Garlic Root here.”

_ “Geramik Fruit and Garlekki root”  _ Iknar corrected, getting a minor huff of annoyance from Casey.

“ Not the point, but anyways. I like the root better because my taste buds don’t react badly to it. See, the human mouth has these, uh…. Bumps and stuff that tells us “Hey, this tastes good so it’s safe to eat!” or “Oh hey, this tastes super bad. It’s not good for you buddy!” and thus it leads to preferences, or likes in this case.” Casey explained, using her limited knowledge on biology and her own experience.

_ “So taste… is a very important thing for the human kind then. And thus this… like is the natural response of the body saying it’s getting the correct nutrients to keep it alive.” _

“Uh… well kinda…” Casey muttered, biting at the inside of her cheek as she tried to think of how to continue her explanation. Across the way Iknar’s head tilted once again, eyes blinking slow as he patiently waited for the human to continue.

“... Well see, all human’s tastes are different. Some would probably like the sour taste more then me, while others more commonly like foods that don’t really have much nutritional value to them. We have multiple kinds of food called candy that’s not healthy at all, but tastes really good.”

_ “So… taste is not useful then.” _

“That’s not… Okay look, are you able to taste or not?”

_ “This one has already-” _

“Yes, yes you said your kind doesn’t  **need ** to eat… but you did say you’re still capable of it.” 

Iknar said nothing for a moment, before slowly getting what the human seemed to be getting at.

_ “You… want this one to test to see if this… taste is something Argoka have?” _

“And if you do then you’ll get my point!” Casey grinned with a snap of her fingers… only to be forced to bite back the urge to yell in pain as she ended up using the finger that was burned by the light bars.

Iknar seemed to consider this for a little bit, his black reflective eyes examining the bars of light, the distance between their cages and the food that was within Casey’s own. 

_ “Very well. How good is your aim?” _

“Uh…. Average? I mean… I would do well in dodgeball in gym and all… But that’s about it.”

_ “... This one will prepare for possible variables to take place soon then.” _

“Wow… real vote of confidence right there buddy…” Casey sighed, before slowly getting up and getting the two fruits ready, deciding to keep the apparent “root” for herself to eat for now. Feeling more confident in throwing the rounded… Qui something fruit, Casey was about to toss it over, only to remember that the burnt finger was on her dominant hand. The spherical fruit touched the burned skin causing a new hiss of pain to escape from her mouth… and making her drop said fruit before she could even try tossing it.

“FUCK!” She screamed as she watched a portion of the fruit roll into one of the light bars… and a portion of it get burned away into the beam of light. The human soon scooped what was left back up into her less dominant hand and continued to curse about how her day just seemed to be steamrolling down hill today.

_ “If this plan of yours isn’t able to begin, there is no reason to continue as the only continued consequences would befall unto you.”  _ Iknar “helpfully” offered, only to get a bit of an annoyed glare from the teenaged girl.

“Don’t start with me Iknar. We’re going to figure out if you can taste or not, and we are going to do it today!” 

_ “Why are you so determined to figure out something so insignificant? Is this a common trait among humans?” _

“It’s common in my family at least! Everyone in the Boswell family’s stubborn as a bull. Hell if my dad wasn’t so stubborn, he wouldn’t have ever met my mom… at least… that’s what mom would tell me…” Casey’s mood was immediately brought down the drain as she was thinking about her family again… about her father more specifically, especially with her situation now.

_ “... What are these “mom” and “dad” on your planet?”  _ Iknar’s words snapped Casey out of her somber mood just enough to quirk an eyebrow at him.

“Are… Are you messing with me right now?”

_ “This one does not understand the meaning of those words. This one only assumes it is in relation to the jobs of a producer and an incubator on your planet.” _

“.... You… you call women incubators?” Casey had to question, feeling offended a little but at least feeling better then she was just thinking of her family.

_ “Women? That is the correct term for an incubator of your kind then?”  _ Iknar’s head tilted, black eyes staring right at her as if for confirmation. Casey wanted to be mad, she really did… but then again she was quietly reminded that Iknar wasn’t a human, and thus didn’t have the same terminology that humans did.

“Yeah, the women carry the children… but trust me, it’s kinda insulting to us if that’s how you view us.”

_ “So you are a…. Woman of your species then. This one didn’t wish to assume as such.” _

“Well thanks for that Iknar…” Casey sighed, hey at least he didn’t assume right off the bat… then again, that’s what she was doing now and the guilt about it was starting to rise up at this realization. “So… what are you then?”

_ “This one is an Argoka, as stated before.” _

“No I mean… You know what, save it for another time. We got fruit for you to eat!”

_ “... This one thought that plan was forgotten.” _

“Not a chance my friend!” Casey grinned, getting her least dominant hand ready with the slightly burnt fruit, and carefully fitting it between the beams of light to not burn any more. Her hazel eyes looked right into the black reflective ones of her alien friend. “You ready over there or not?”

_ “... Throw it whenever you are ready.”  _ Iknar finally responded, his body moving closer to the bars of his cell and bladed tail swishing slightly with each step before snaking around his feet when he finally stopped walking.

“Alright here it comes!” Casey adjusted her hold and then attempted an underhanded throw, the best she could get so she wouldn’t throw it to hard… or into the ground by accident. As it left her hand and flew a little way, the human knew immediately that she didn’t throw it hard enough as it wasn’t as close to the bars as she would have liked… and was heading for the metallic ground. Before it could however a quick blur and the sound of something sharp cutting through the fruit’s skin cut the air… as Iknar’s bladed tail had shoot out between the bars and the bladed part seemed to extend a little to catch the fruit onto it’s sharp point. 

“Well… that’s one way to do it.” Casey commented as she watched the alien pull his tail back into his cell and pull the fruit off the blade, causing said blade to retract a bit into the pale grey tail.

_ “Are you going to throw the other as well? Or is it for after this one had eaten the Quimmhe Fruit?”  _

“Uh… Try the Quim He Fruit first, I’ll toss the Germmy Fruit after.” Casey explained, only to get a stare from Iknar at her mispronouncing the names of the fruits… again. 

_ “Quimmhe and Geramik.”  _ Iknar corrected, once again.

“Whatever, just give it a try.”

Iknar just stared at her for a single moment before turning his attention down to the sphere shaped, slightly burnt fruit. Slowly, Casey watched as Iknar opened up his jaws, revealing two rows of needle like teeth and a forked tongue, before putting a portion of the fruit into his mouth. 

_ A lot of my nightmares are just going to be mouth related at this rate.  _ Casey thought sarcastically, her eyes glancing over to the six limbed, monkey like thing in the cage on her right for a moment. Watching as it yawned, it’s head splitting into those three parts once again for a moment, and it’s whip like tongues curling just slightly before closing back up like nothing happened.

_ “.... it has a minor heat to it.”  _ Iknar’s thought speak cut through Casey’s discomfort, bringing her back to what exactly was going on.

“Okay… It’s either spicy, or that’s just the burnt Quiloff part.”

_ “That is nowhere near close to the actual name.” _

“But congrats! I’m now pretty sure you have a sense of taste! So let’s have you try the Geramik fruit next!”

_ “At least you got that one correct.” _

“Alright, get ready for fruit ball two!” Casey began to get the second fruit ready to be thrown over.

_ “The Geramik fruit is not sphere shaped though, there for-”  _ Iknar began, only to pause as the fruit was thrown at him. He reacted quick though by once again spearing the fruit when it got close enough with his tail once again.  _ “... It would not count as a ball.” _

“Tell that to the football players back home.” Casey shrugged, picking up the apple shaped not fruit and taking another bite of the near tasteless alien food. She watched as Iknar did the same with the conical shaped Geramik Fruit… and seemed to go deep into thought after the bite. “So, what are your thoughts?”

_ “... This “sour” that the Geramik has, is more palatable than the Quimmhe was. Whether it be more from the fact that the Quimmhe was burnt, or it was indeed it’s “taste” is not completely known-” _

“So you like the Geramik, more than the other one is what you’re telling me?” Casey asked, a small smile on her face as she watched the alien blink for a moment, realization seeming to come through in his black eyes.

_ “... This is the other meaning of that word is it not?”  _ Casey nodded in response, sure it wasn’t the exact meaning but he at least got the concept better now.  _ “Then yes… this one likes the Geramik over Quimmhe. Though now both fruits need to be removed before the next rotation of guards come through.” _

After convincing Iknar that he could honestly just eat the fruit he liked, and feed the other one to one of his neighbors, Casey began to feel the events of the day wear down on her. Sitting with her back against the solid wall of her cage she let out a tired sigh, watching as Iknar seemed to get back into his “shut down” position from earlier. Guess he was just as tired, or had sensed guards about to come in again soon.

“Sweet Dreams Iknar…” Casey mumbled as she felt her eyes begin to drift close, completely missing how said alien’s head perked up and stared at her for a bit as she drifted into the realm of unconsciousness.

….

** _“Commander Vel, we have readings on an illegal transport ship in sector 3 Q-J. Permission to set a course to intercept?” _ **

**“Permission Granted. Lieutenant Dorado, get Petty Officer Zeta and get the rest of the crew ready for a raid.”**

**“Right away Commander!”**


	2. Chapter 2

** _Chapter 2:_ **

_ The blackened sky was littered with stars as far as the eyes of young six year old Casey, who was decked out in some winter gear, could see. The telescope that had been set up helped her get a better view of them was set up in the back of a relatively new green pickup truck.  _

_ “Alright, see that cluster? That’s the sagittarius constellation.” A man with auburn colored short hair that extended down to what appeared to be recently trimmed sideburns, pointed out to the child with a gloved hand. He helped her keep the well used telescope steady as they moved it for a better view of the constellation.” _

_ “What’s it make daddy?” The young child asked, her hazel eyes wide and glowing with childish curiosity. Her father chuckled before turning his brown eyes to the stars and pointing each one. _

_ “Well, if you start there, and follow the path like this. You get yourself a centaur archer getting ready to fire his bow.” Casey’s Father smiled, at the wide eyed look his eldest child gave him. _

_ “The Saggitus is a horse person?!” Casey exclaimed with an excited look as she turned back to look at the stars, picturing the image of a centaur galloping across the night sky as she did. Her father laughed and ruffled her dark auburn hair. _

_ “Yeah he is, and he’s off hunting big game!”  _

_ The two sat in the back of the pick up truck for a while longer just watching the stars and pointing out constellations until the young girl began to yawn. _

_ “Well, well. Looks like this little owl’s ready to return to the nest huh?” The auburn haired man laughed slightly as the little girl pouted, and shook her head. _

_ “Nu-uh, I’m still wide awake!” Casey tried to protest, only to yawn again and begin to rub at her eyes. _

_ “Hey it’s alright to be tired. Daddy’s getting tired to you know, and I think mommy would like us back soon as well.” _

_ “Cuz mama will kill ya for leaving her alone with Claire all night? Right?” Casey asked, as her dad picked her up carefully in his strong arms, covered by a black winter jacket. _

_ “Did she tell you that herself?” The father asked while opening the door to set her down into the truck, his face in mock surprise. _

_ “Nope! I heard her tell you before we left.” Casey tiredly smiled as she settled into her seat, slowly buckling herself in as her father tossed the keys onto the drivers side seat, a strange thing he did only on these nighttime stargazing trips they had… though probably related to the one time he dropped them outside the truck and had trouble finding them for almost an hour. _

_ “You were listening in huh?” He chuckled as she nodded, the door closing between them… a bright light hit them and the truck soon after, nearly blinding the small family. “What the?” _

_ Years from this moment, therapists would try to convince Casey that these were headlights of a car coming in and that everything that followed was just her young mind trying to make sense of what had happened. That everything to follow was just a six year old trying to cope… But that’s not the case.  _

_ In reality, the light came from the sky above. She couldn’t see where the light came from exactly due to the roof blocking a good chunk of her view, but her father clearly did from the surprised, yet horrified expression on his face.  _

_ “Daddy? What-” She began to ask, hand moving to unbuckle her seat belt so she could go and attempt to get a better look at what her dad was seeing, only to be cut off by her father. _

_ “Stay in the car Cassandra!” He shouted, scaring the young child into frozen surprise as she watched him quickly run to the drivers side of the truck. Before he could even open the door, he seemed to be raising into the air. The only reason he didn’t go flying into the air right away was from a death grip he had on the door’s handle. _

_ The same time this was happening, Casey had felt weird. It was like… something was trying to pull her up, but the seatbelt across her lap kept her firmly to the seat which seemed immobile to whatever force was attempting to pull both her and her father into it. Fear began to build up in the child’s little chest as she felt the strange force attempting to pull her up… as well as watching her own father holding onto the truck handle for dear life. _

_ “Daddy?!” She screamed with tears beginning to roll down her face, her body trembling in complete fear as she caught the terrified look on her father’s face as he struggled to pull himself back down to the ground.  _

_ “Cas-“ he began, probably attempting to try and comfort her, probably to reassure her that he was going to be fine… but whatever he was attempting to say was cut short as the force attempting to pull them in seemed to increase in intensity. He lost grip with one hand on the now heavily damaged door handle… and when he attempted to pull that arm back down his grip finally failed him. _

_ For Casey, she was screaming just as much as her father had begun to as he was sent into the sky. For her the force seemed to actually pull her up in the seat, making the seatbelt dig into her covered skin and cutting through some of her jacket.  _

_ To little Casey the whole moment felt like it went on forever… but it was only about six minutes. Six agonizing minutes until she couldn’t hear her fathers screams. Six minutes of feeling the seat belt digging into her legs, and right shoulder. Six minutes… and it all ended just as suddenly as it had began.  _

_ The light vanished, as well as the force, making the little girl drop into her seat. Her screaming however never stopped even as the event did. Her tears continued to fall in large streams down her rounded cheeks.  _

_ She never stopped crying, and she never left the truck the whole night. The only time she did was when her little body gave out and she ended up passing out from pure exhaustion. She only woke up again when she had been found by the police the next morning. _

_ Her father, however, was never found. _

….

Casey’s eyes opened wide from both the memory, and the tears that had been rolling down her cheeks in her sleep. Raising a hand up, to both rub at her eyes, and to wipe away at least some of her tears, the teenager was almost lost to her thoughts… had a growingly familiar thought like voice not dragged her out of them.

_ “Your momentary shut down seems to have caused some form of mental distress. This one is unsure if it is normal for humans, or is something that requires immediate attention.”  _

Turning her gaze immediately to the cage across the way from her own, Casey saw the pale grey skeletal like form of Iknar staring at her. His long tail slowly curling into a semi circle shape on the ground as he sat on his haunches in a position that reminded Casey of her stepdad’s two cats.

“Just… a bad memory from when I was a kid….” 

_ “An event from the past that still causes distress. Immediate attention is deemed necessary if this event continues to persist for you.”  _ Iknar seemed to shift a bit, causing him to lean forward and Casey swore she pretty much saw a determined look in those reflective black eyes of his.  _ “While this one isn’t well versed in care of other species like that of the nurse variant, this one will try to find the solution to fix this problem.” _

“That’s sweet Iknar… But really, you don’t need to.” Casey waved him off with one hand, while the other was still cleaning up her face a bit. A small smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she saw his confused head tilt.

_ “But… this past event seems to still have some form of effect on your wellbeing…” _

“It’s just… the last memory I have of my dad. Nothing can really be done about that besides trying to move on.” Casey explained.

_ “... What does this memory detail?” _

“Little personal there, don’t you think?” Casey chuckled lightly. “I’ve known you for, what, a day now?”

_ “Twenty point zero five clicks, and thirty ticks and counting to be exact.” _

“... Assuming I know what that means, that’s still not a lot of time. This one’s kinda personal you know. It’s like, “Hey bestest bud in the world, wanna hear a depressing story of my past” kinda personal.”

_ “... Assuming this one knows what  _ ** _that _ ** _ means, this one would still have to point out the flaws within that line of reasoning.”  _ Iknar explained, seeming to ignore Casey’s shifting of discomfort.

“Touche… but still… It’s just, you know… kind of hard to tell someone you don’t know all that well.” 

_ “But, if this memory causes you distress, or if it affects you at a particularly crucial point in time, it will simply be a hindrance if this one has no context clues to figure out what has caused said distress.”  _

“... Can we just… drop this topic for now? Please?” Casey begged, trying to hold back the fresh tears that threatened to run down her cheeks as she felt unwanted memories starting to pop up.

_ “.... Very well, a change in topic would perhaps be the best answer to this situation, for now.”  _

Casey felt momentary relief at those words… though the words that followed next…

_ “Do you remember how you were captured?” _

Made what little relief she had crumble into dust as she felt a momentary headache forming.

“And now I’m changing the subject again.” Casey announced, rubbing two fingers against one of her temples.

_ “You do not remember then.”  _ Iknar stated in confirmation, but Casey attempted to ignore it.

“What are you exactly?”

_ “... This one believes that the answer had already been given. This one is an-” _

“Argoka. Yeah I know, but like… are you an…. “Incubator” Argoka or a “Producer” Argoka.” Casey tried to explain, using the terms she still found mildly insulting but knew they were the terms Iknar would be most familiar with… though there was a bit of a hesitant bite in her words at using the terms. 

_ “... Argoka are physically incapable of being either. We rely on other species assistance in producing Argoka larvae.” _

That… That was not the answer Casey was expecting to hear. Like in her head, that really wasn’t what she expected at all. He… They? Didn’t have actual, biological genders?

“Sooo… you guys… are agender or something?”

_ “... That is something that wouldn’t fall into the categories of Incubator or Producer correct?”  _ A quiet nod from the human.  _ “Then yes, Argoka are physically “agender” as you have put it.” _

“.... Can I still use the “He, Him” pronouns with you? I, uh… I kinda got it stuck in my head but I can… you know try to swap over to “They, them” if you’re uncomfortable with it.” Casey stammered, feeling a little bad for just assuming and not just straight up asking right off the bat. Then again she still didn’t really know all that much about aliens in general… hell for all she knew there were MANY more genders or pronouns out there then what she knew on Earth.

There was a bit of a silence for a while then, Iknar seeming to process her words with a slow blink before finally “speaking” again once those black mirror like eyes of it’s opened back up.

_ “... Argoka do not use these… “Pronouns”, but if they are important to Casey, then this one will accept whatever you decide to use.”  _

_ Well… that’s… something, I guess?  _ Casey thought with a blink of her own. The alien just basically gave her the go ahead to use whatever pronouns for it… Honestly it was a little hard to wrap her head around, like seriously what was their reproduction cycle like? 

_ Actually I don’t think I want to know… that’s probably a little too personal.  _

“So…I think... I’ll keep using male pronouns… if you’re okay with that I mean.”

_ “If that is what you wish to use.” _

_ Why the hell do you have to be so passive on some of these things?!  _ Casey wanted to shout, but held back. His kind didn’t have pronouns… or genders, so really this was probably just as new to him as… well a lot of things were to her now. Casey soon just sighed deeply.

_ “Members of the ship are about to make their way here soon.”  _ Iknar soon spoke up, adjusting back into the exact same position… in the exact same area where he would play “shut down”. How he remembered the exact details still left Casey quietly questioning if he had a photographic memory, but she didn’t feel the need to ask… though a couple other questions seemed to come to the forefront.

“Can… they hear you when you do your little… Telepathy trick?”

_ “Not unless this one includes them in the mind link. Which is a high improbability given multiple pieces of evidence.” _

“And you can understand what their saying right?”

_ “Yes?” _

“Could you give me a translation of what their saying? Like if they’re speaking, could you give me the play by play?”

_ “Yes? May this one inquire why?”  _ She caught his eye looking straight at her from his “shut down” position, a calculated curiosity in it’s reflective depths.

“Eh, kinda just wanna know… maybe even mess with them a little.” Casey snickered slightly at the end.

_ “.... Very well, this one will relay to the best of this one’s abilities. Now cease communications with this one, they are about to enter in three ticks.”  _ If Iknar’s face was more like a human’s, Casey swore he would have a permanent “Are you serious?” Look on it every time they spoke.

Casey just grinned a little at the personal victory,as well as the mental image, before attempting to wipe it off her face a couple seconds later when she heard the door opening up. The multiple sets of steps convinced her it wasn’t the one that had the food last time, nor the large amphibian looking one… though she could tell one of them was probably the feathered insectoid from when she first woke up.

Turns out she was right, one of the two aliens that walked in was the feathered insectoid that she had seen when she first woke up, the color of the feathers were very distinct to her with their emerald color and dull grey tips. The other was new to her, kinda making her think of a Jellyfish with the tendrils that fell around a bubble like head. It seemed to have pale blue glowing spots on it, perhaps it’s eyes, while the body underneath it made her think of a stick bug with how thin and almost frail it looked, though compared to Iknar’s corpse like thin, this thing looked much healthier and naturally thin. The two fin-like wings that made up what she assumed were it’s arms though, were very pretty to look at as they seemed to change color in the dim light.

The insectoid’s mandibles made the same clicking noises as last time as it seemed to be addressing the Jellyfish creature.

_ “The Hearoshin is inquiring about you… or rather how much you would be worth once the ship arrives at its destination.”  _ Iknar translated… though Casey could tell he wasn’t translating word for word, at least he was getting straight to the point.

The Jellyfish like being made a soft, almost echoing bubbling noise as it spoke… this left Casey even more curious on how these aliens all seemed to understand one another, when she could barely even pick up a base in their languages.

_ “The Kaimousshun said that it depends. Since you are a female of your species you’re less likely to be picked for Gladiatorial combat, your physique cementing that fact as well.”  _ Casey barely held back a shout at that, sure she wasn’t the most athletic, barely finishing the mile run in twenty minutes without feeling like dying, and sure she had a little chub to her but it was a healthy chub! And who the hell said girls couldn’t be warriors?!

_ “So it is guessing you would be sold as either a pet, or a slave. Either way, since humans are a rare export they will be getting a large sum off of you.”  _ Iknar concluded, not really knowing about her internal rage that was festering with how “Misogynistic” some aliens seemed to be.

“Fucking Jackasses….” she muttered out loud, sending a glare right into the eyes of the insectoid... Hearoshin was it? Said alien seemed to let out another squawking laugh before turning to the Kaimou… Jellyfish creature thing and clicking something back to it.

_ “The Hearoshin finds you amusing, seems to be questioning if it can’t just keep you instead.”  _ As Iknar translated, Casey just watched the insectoid get slapped upside it’s slightly feathered head by one of the tendrils from the other alien. She didn’t really pay much attention to Iknar’s telepathic translation of what the Kaimousshun was saying, she could figure it out given the context clues she already had.

However, something else came to mind… or rather an important need did.

“Hey, feather head.” She watched as the Hearoshin turned its head to her with, not a look that read as annoyed to the human, rather more as surprised. Hell she was sure even Iknar was surprised but she didn’t really care right now, she had something more important to take care of after all. “I need to take a piss.”

The two aliens glanced to each other, the sound of clicking mandibles and bubbling noises starting up in a quiet tone… and quietly driving the human crazy.

“Look, I know you assholes can understand me, and while I have no idea why you abducted me… I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want me to get sick from being in my own piss and shit, nor would you want me to burst from holding it in. Like seriously, humans have needs man… or woman… I have no clue okay, just… can I use a restroom or not?”

The two aliens seemed to converse for a bit, allowing Casey to glance over to see Iknar… remaining impressively still and not giving anything away.

_ “The Hearoshin is a producer of its species, while the Kaimousshun is an incubator in regards to your earlier curiosity… and the Kaimousshun seems to be for the idea of taking you out. The Hearoshin seems to be more hesitant on it…. though it appears it’s losing the argument. Do not do something foolish Casey.” _

_ Gee, thanks for the real vote of confidence buddy. _ Casey thought, arms wrapped around her as she squirmed uncomfortably. Finally the jellyfish like alien stepped closer on its stick like legs, fins shifting to the front of its body slowly as one of the tendrils on its… her bulbous head reached into a pocket of some kind, and pulling out what looked like a keycard.

Momentarily confused on just where the card was going to be placed, as each cage didn’t have any obvious looking locks or key holes on or near them. The confusion cleared up as she watched the keycard get held in front of the bars that were made of light, and a perfect circle was formed on the center bar of the cage. As the keycard was placed into the center of it, Casey watched it seem to spin once and the lights vanished, leaving behind one single metal bar that held a circular shape in the center of it.

The alien then used one of her fins to motion for Casey to “Come Here”, the vibrant colors shifting in gradient with each little flick due to the light. Slowly Casey followed the instruction given to her, and once she was out the Kaimousshun pulled the keycard away from the metal bar, causing the circular surroundings to fold back into it.

“... okay, that’s kinda cool…” Casey muttered, mostly to herself as the Jellyfish headed alien started to lead her out of the area. The insectoid alien not to far behind and giving off little clicks here and there… probably something involving irritation. However none of them noticed Iknar’s eyes being wide open and watching them as they walked away very closely until they were too far away.

….

**“What is the estimated time of intercepting the transport?”**

** _“Approximately 10 hours Commander. Though it depends on if the ship decides to change trajectory and vere off into a different quadrant or not.”_ **

**“Very well. Keep a close eye on the radar and inform me if anything changes Cleagan.”**

** _“Understood sir.”_ **

….

The Journey to the much needed restroom was practically a blur to Casey as she was more focused on being lead to the destination she desperately needed. The trip back however was met with wide open eyes as she took in the sights of the ship she was trapped on.

At first she had a mental image of probably a decent sized ship with few crew members, a cargohole, cramped hallways and only a few essential things for long travel… this was blowing her original idea away with the large, expansive walkways, the high amounts of crew members she kept seeing, and a few windows that showed Stars, planets and Constellations she didn’t even recognize that were blurring by as they traveled. There was minimal piping visible through the halls, but the ones that were visible seemed to be connected to doors that opened, and shut automatically after scanning a symbol that seemed to be stitched onto each uniform for the crew. The walls looked less like metal and more like something she would see in the hospital her mom worked in: Walls painted a casual, easy on the eyes color with sparse disturbances aside from the doors and window panels.

The floors still looked like metal… but were less bleak compared to the flooring back in the cargo hold with the cages.

_ Geeze, wonder what the crew quarters look like at this rate… or the cockpit for that matter… maybe even the mess hall. Hell I kinda want a grand tour now but that’s probably pushing my privileges.  _ Casey thought, her hazel eyes taking in all the sights she could and even sneaking a glance or two at her escort’s weapon. Somewhere during the walk to her needed destination she had been left alone with the Kaimousshun, and said alien continued to keep a close guard on her as they walked back to her cage.

The thought to steal the gun and attempt to make a break for it did cross Casey’s mind a few times… but then the logical part of her mind that vaguely sounded like Iknar… or rather her probably doing an Iknar impression by this point, would point out the flaws with that plan.

_ You barely know how to handle a BB gun back home without shooting yourself in the foot, why would a Space Gun be any different? _

_ You don’t know your way around the ship, how would you find the escape pods? Let alone know how to pilot one and find your way home on the first shot? _

_ There’s a full fucking ship here, and you’re just one person. You do the math and figure out your odds of getting away easily. _

Things like that would drag whatever fantasy of escape that crossed her mind, straight into the toilets and down the drain. Not to mention she would be abandoning her new friend, who was probably in a worse situation compared to her as he had to act dead… Then again in all honesty it is hard to tell with Iknar how he feels about his situation, but regardless it’s definitely worse.

As she was brought back to where her cage was, she was quickly reminded how much duller the lighting was in here compared to the rest of the ship. 

_ Guess it slipped my mind…  _ She thought to herself, quietly waiting for her eyes to adjust a bit back to being in the dimmer room. Soon she was back in her cage and the light based bars were once again blocking her exit. Casey found herself letting out a small sigh as she watched her short time escort place the key back into the… pocket? Maybe? Behind her and soon walk away, probably to do whatever else her job entitled.

_ “This one is impressed.”  _ Iknar spoke up as soon as the former escort left the area, his skeletal body rolling over from his side to his stomach and turning his full attention onto the human.

“By… what? My restraint on not attempting to do something so stupid I could have died?”

_ “No… but this one supposes that should be added if the possibility was indeed as high as you’ve made it seem.” _

“... I can’t tell if you were being serious or sarcastic with that.”

_ “Regardless, this one was more impressed by you using your natural needs as a way to map out directions within this ship, and add a calculated amount of obstacles for avoidance in an escape scenario.” _

“Uh… Yeah... totally what I did….” Casey lied, shifting a little uncomfortably and eyes unable to look into Iknar’s own as she spoke.

_ “Further planning will be needed, but this is a necessary first step.”  _ Iknar continued on, clearly not picking up her lie and almost making the human feel bad about it. Almost being a keyword as she registered exactly what Iknar was talking about pretty quickly. Her face scrunching up in confusion for a moment.

“... Wait we’re actually making an escape plan now?”

_ “Is… escape not what you wish?”  _ Iknar’s head tilted to the side.

“No! I mean, yes! I mean… Yeah I want to escape but-”

_ “Then this is part of the first step into said plan. This one has already taken the liberty to procure something…”  _

Casey’s eyes widened as she saw within one of Iknar’s clawed hands was a keycard.

_ “That will aid in the steps to follow.” _

“Okay when and how?!” Casey exclaimed, both in surprise and excitement… with a hint of worry in a small corner of her mind.

_ “After you returned. As soon as the Kaimusshun was placing it back into its pouch, this one reacted as quickly as this one could to procure it without being noticed. The opportunity to procure another one of these may not present itself as nicely or easily next time.” _

“Okay, but how? I’m pretty sure your arms would have been noticeable… and aren’t that long.” Casey pointed out, staring at the lanky appendages of her friend, and also paying attention to the bladed parts of the forearms. Those would have to be angled to not get damaged after all and… 

Casey’s line of thought was cut off when her eye caught the swishing of Iknar’s tail, and realization hit her like a bag of bricks. After all it was pretty much as long as his body, it was also thin enough and the blade on the end was retractable after all.

“Oh right… I forgot about that for a minute.” Casey admitted, an impressed look settling onto her naturally tanned face.

_ “While this one doesn’t understand how you forgot a simple fact, this one is more focused on two things. The first being the need to formulate a plan of escape.” _

“And the second?”

_ “If this has somehow gotten this one to the level of “Hey bestest bud in the world” to better understand the memory that was troubling you earlier.”  _ Iknar stated, looking as serious as ever while Casey blinked in confusion for a moment before she remembered what happened when she woke up.

“... You’re still on that? I honestly nearly forgot…” Casey muttered, whatever joy she had gotten slowly falling back down the drain as she remembered exactly what her new friend was asking her about.

_ “So you still will not tell this one? Should the topic be changed once again? Perhaps back to the topic of escape.” _

“... Well we still have some time to make plans before we reach… wherever it is we’re going… and my therapist would say talking about it can help…” Casey muttered thinking things through and glancing back over to Iknar, who shifted into a sitting position once again and was patiently waiting for her decision.

“Alright… Alright I’ll tell you. Not the whole thing! But you know, what I feel comfortable with.”

_ “Whatever you decide would be for the best.” _

And with that it was a bit like a damn slowly cracking open as Casey told Iknar about her youth. Not once did he interrupt her when she spoke about her dad… and his abduction ten years ago. Started off small and on topic, but the more she talked, the more things began to spill… and still Iknar sat there listening to everything she was saying. 

She went from talking about her father’s disappearance from when she was younger… to the years of therapy trying to tell her that she had mentally replaced what “really” happened to her father as a way to cope, to how her life on earth went until she was abducted… which she still couldn’t remember in general. Honestly all of this started spiralling like this when she decided to give some context to the stories whenever Iknar would seem confused about something.

“... I… I still have no idea… I don’t… I don’t know what I said to mom… to Claire… to Frank before I… What was I even doing before it happened?” Casey asked, sometime during her explanation turned rant, tears began to fall down her face.

_ “... This is a normal result of the capture system on ships like the one we are on.”  _ Iknar finally spoke, after what was probably an hour or two of Casey’s rant. The teenager sniffled and looked up at the Argoka, still sitting as he had from the beginning and looking like he hadn’t moved an inch.

“W…. what?”

_ “Scrambled memories and messed up brain waves. Common side effects if one is the subject of said capture system. Most species temporarily suffer from memory loss, while others will be disoriented to the point of having delayed reactions or thoughts. There are few species that will suffer both, but those aren’t as common.”  _ The pale grey alien explained, tail swishing slowly behind him as if he was content. Casey blinked in surprise, one of her hands reaching up and cleaning up her face a little bit.

“Wait… so the reason I can’t remember ... and why… wow that… that actually explains  **a lot** right now.” The human hummed a little at the end as it made more sense now.

Why she couldn’t remember what happened, why she didn’t straight up register the fact she was surrounded by aliens…. why she was only now having a major breakdown instead of after realizing she was in space, god knows how far away from home she was. 

“... You know I thought these guys were assholes before… they just graduated to fuckwads in my books because of this.” Casey admitted as she continued to clean up her face with her sweatshirts sleeve. Emotionally she wasn’t one hundred percent sure if she was okay, but damn did she feel better after crying for a bit.

_ “This one has no idea what those terms mean… but given the context, this one assumes they are given to beings that have caused harm to one’s being.” _

“Close enough.” Casey shrugged.

_ “Then these… fuckwads, will need to be dealt with accordingly in due time.” _

Casey had no idea what to think in that moment. On one hand she really wanted to laugh because this was the first time she heard him swear… but she was also curious by what “dealt with accordingly” meant… and also the feeling of not really wanting to find out in the end. Though she still found herself chuckling a little.

“Leave the swearing to me in the future buddy.” Casey snickered, not really caring that the Argoka had tilted his head once again. 

_ “... This one doesn’t understand the context of this “swearing” that you’ve mentioned…”  _ Iknar’s comment just made her laugh a little more, actually getting a bit of the alien’s eyes to narrow in concern, the process and make him look more confused than ever.  _ “Did… this one do something wrong?” _

_ He may be smart in a lot of shit compared to me, but he’s also kinda an idiot as well in other areas.  _ Casey thought as she tried to calm herself down from her laughing fit. 

“Nah, you did nothing wrong! Trust me, you probably just made my day.” 

Iknar blinked for a moment, not completely understanding what he did… but registering that it was something good at least. Soon after though, Iknar’s head turned to quickly in one direction that Casey swore it could have snapped.

_ “Something’s coming…” _

“One of the guards again?” Casey hesitantly asked, honestly getting a little scared from Iknar’s reaction.

_ “No… Another ship… and it’s rapidly approaching.”  _ Iknar responded, shifting quickly from his sitting position into a quadrupedal stance, his bladed tail twitching with agitation as he focused his whole attention in the single direction.

“Huh? Wait, how the hell can you tell?” Casey questioned, her mind going off in two separate directions on just how he could tell. One leading to the “mind scan” thing he told her about when they first met… the other being simply “Alien Bullshit” and leaving it at that.

_ “Argoka’s sense of hearing is one of the greatest strengths of the hive.”  _ Iknar explained, tone still completely even while his stance was tense, ready to strike, or flee at a moment’s notice if need be. Honestly, if his spiny back was arched, Casey was sure the alien would look more like one of her step-father’s cats with how he held himself.

“Can… You tell what kind of ship it is? Good? Bad?”

_ “No… useful information such as that is unable to be picked up yet…”  _ As soon as he finished his sentence alarms began to blare on the ship, the already dull lighting gaining a red hue to the loud, almost fog horn like noise. Casey had to cover her ears with a hiss, while Iknar’s head twitched for a second, before straightening out with his reflective eyes narrowing deeply in concentration.  _ “... They’re going to ram the ship.” _

“So, Good I guess?!” Casey shouted, hands still over her ears to block out the noise. A sense of guilt and pity building in her heart as she watched Iknar’s body twitch slightly each time the alarms raised in volume, or perhaps from it being mixed with the frantic cries and roars of the various creatures around them.

_ “How long can a human hold their breath?” _

“Uh… last I counted for myself… about a minute thirty two seconds…” Casey really didn’t like where this was going now that she really thought about it.

_ “.... Plans for escape have just hit the highest levels, planning will have to be made on the go.”  _ Iknar explained, reaching one of his clawed hands out carefully with the keycard in hand, and began unlocking his cell.  _ “When the doors are about to open, hold your breath. This one will alert you when something is about to come in.” _

What Casey wouldn’t give to have those delayed reactions again… at least then she wouldn’t be feeling her heart pounding like it was trying to break out of her chest as a rush of anxiety and fear for what was coming fell over her whole body.

_ “Now.” _


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jesus Christ I had this waiting for a while... it's also shorter then the other two chapters but I'm pretty sure I've waited long enough to post this.... Life is just a bitch. Anyways I hope you guys enjoy, I'm gonna try to work on chapter 4 and try to get it out before July. Key word being Try.

** _Chapter 3_ **

Casey took a quick, deep breath before holding it in. Her hands rose up and covered her nose and mouth as an extra measure just as the metal doors exploded inward, a gas leaking in and causing many of the already panicking creatures to go into overtime before some of them seemed to drop like flies. The six legged monkey-like creature that was Casey’s neighbor being one of the creatures that passed out after attempting to fight it for a bit.

_ Oh God, oh god! _Casey screamed mentally as she dropped back onto her rear, all while fighting back the urge to scream and lose what little air she had in her lungs. Out of fear, Casey closed her eyes tight… completely missing what was going on outside of her cage.

Iknar, when the doors had broken open, had crouched low to the ground, using the now incoming gas as cover while scurrying rather quickly for something his size. Before the being could properly enter the room, long clawed fingers reached up and grabbed their face, claws digging into the beings flesh and drawing a bit of blood. Before they could scream in fright, Iknar turned immediately, somehow pulling the being into the room with enough force to be air borne for a moment, before crashing hard into the metal flooring. 

Surprised shouts were soon heard in the outside hall but Iknar was working on a time limit. Scurrying right over the now unconscious, bleeding body, the Argoka’s reflective eyes scanned over the entire being before narrowing in on a small little triangular chip that seemed to be sticking to their neck. Wasting no time he pulled it off the body, a bit of a light glow appearing then breaking apart from the aliens face.

Working quickly with this new little piece of equipment in hand and hearing others approaching quickly, Iknar dashes over to Casey’s cage and unlocked it as quick as possible. Seeing as she seemed to be struggling in holding her breath for much longer, the skeletal-like alien stepped into the cage quickly, pulled her hands off her mouth and nose, then placed the little chip near the base of her left ear. The little device seemed to activate just as Casey took in a much needed breath.

To Casey, the activation of the little device made it feel like she had something around the lower half of her face, like a bandanna… but it seemed to be filtering out whatever the gas was that was filling the room. However she didn’t really feel the need to question the workings of the device Iknar got for her… no she was more focused on refilling her lungs properly after going probably above her own personal record with how long she held her breath for.

_ “We need to move. Back up for the one on the ground is on the way. Fully armed.” _ Iknar explained quickly, standing Casey up and for the first time giving her a proper example on just how tall he is… Compared to her 5’ 2” height he had to **at least be 7’ tall** with how her head barely reached his boney shoulder.

“One on the… Oh.. Oh shit.” Casey began only to turn immediately to quiet horror as reality of their situation set in… and Iknar’s claw like fingers latching onto her arm, surprisingly careful though to not damage her sweatshirt, and began dragging her.

The minute they almost stepped out of the cage, what sounded like a gunshot rang out, and Iknar stepped back quickly. 

_ Oh shit! Oh shit this is where I’m going to fucking die! _Casey screamed mentally as her body practically froze up, while her heart pounded heavy in her ears. 

_ “Keep behind this one, and stay low to the ground.” _Iknar calmly stated, shifting his stance back to being on four legs. Honestly if it wasn’t for the fact Iknar could speak directly into her mind, Casey wouldn’t have even noticed that he had spoken. 

Her body feeling stiff with fear and heart still pounding, she quickly got onto her hands and knees and began crawling after Iknar… who was moving faster than she was and was practically rushing the beings at the door. The smoke was still pretty strong on the floor, surprisingly enough to Casey, so it helped with the cover but did nothing for her poor nerves. Especially when she was pretty sure Iknar had just killed the guys who were firing into the cargo hold if the screams were any indication.

_ “It’s clear, but not for long.” _Iknar told her, though it didn’t really settle her nerves at all as she stiffly stood and hurried as fast as her legs could take her in her current condition… only to give out at actually seeing a dead body when her eyes glanced downward. It wasn’t one of the aliens that she had seen before… well maybe in her passing trip to and from the bathroom, which she was still quietly surprised she figured out how to use some of it, but regardless, seeing it's throat slashed and it’s blood, red just like her own, staining a uniform that was silver and blue… it really didn’t help Casey feel any better.

_ Oh god, oh god that’s going to be me. _Casey thought in a panic, practically feeling bile rising up in her throat. Oh how she wished she would have delayed reactions again… then future her could deal with all the feeling sick instead of now.

_ “Casey. We do not have time for this… breakdown. We need to keep moving now, others are on the way here.” _Iknar’s “voice” spoke up in her head. 

“I… I don’t know… I… my… oh god.” Casey sputtered, fear practically taking over and her body feeling like it was on complete lock down. Even when her ears picked up the sounds of footsteps getting closer to their location, it seemed to only make her own fear go haywire… the sound of Iknar’s clawed feet methodically coming up to her didn’t really help much either.

_ “... We need to move.” _

_ Easier said than done. _Was what the human wanted to say, but was cut off by Iknar’s clawed hand clamping down onto her shoulder, and forcing her to stand up with a rough yank. Instinctively Casey struggled for a moment… until Iknar turned his back to her, while kneeling down and used his tail to press her close to his boney looking back.

_ “This one will have to carry you. Grab on, and hold tight.” _Iknar mentally commanded. Casey wanted to say a few things, one being that she was pretty sure she could mess up his fragile looking back… or even how uncomfortable that was going to be for both her and him. However before she could voice any of those concerns, the sounds of shouting in an alien language down the hall with the rapidly approaching footsteps won her out as her arms instinctively wrapped tight around the Argoka’s boney neck.

Without a word from either of them Iknar quickly shifted into his quadrupedal stance and took off like a bullet, making his uncomfortable human rider scream in surprise and tighten her hold by gripping as much as she could, with her legs as well, on the large spindly alien. One of her crossed arms even had it’s hand gripping tightly to one of Iknar’s shoulder spike-like points. In that moment, somewhere in her frantic mind, the comparison of the feel of the bone-like protrusion made her think of her friend Annabell’s pet scorpion with it’s smooth chitin quality.

Regardless of her alien friend’s “skin” quality, Casey’s mind was freaking out less about her possible imminent death, and more freaking out at how fast they were going. Probably also didn’t help that Iknar could apparently use the claws on his hands and feet to actually ** _climb the fucking walls_ ** and did so without warning her.

“IKNAR WHAT THE HELL?!?” Casey screamed as soon as he began climbing the walls, and even onto the ceiling making the human all the more terrified and determined to keep her grip.

_ “You are right on this one's back, you do not need to yell so loud.” _Iknar calmly stated, hitting the ceiling a couple times before flipping back onto the ground with the human still clinging for dear life, and booking it once again.

“WHAT WAS THAT FOR?! DO YOU HAVE TO RUN SO FAST?! COULD YOU AT LEAST GIVE ME SOME WARNINGS BEFORE YOU DO THINGS?!” Casey shouted, her eyes stinging with tears and her throat hurting from all the screaming she was doing.

_ “This one has to eliminate all possible pathways to take in order to figure out the best path to take in finding an escape. Time is also of the essence so speed is needed, and this one will file that information away for the next time it is needed.” _Iknar answered beat for beat, stopping only for a few seconds every so often to look down hallways or to take a peek behind some doors. Needless to say, Casey really was beginning to question if this was how people felt when they had motion sickness ... or if this was how those inflatable, wibbly wobbly noodle men outside of stores felt.

“I… think I’m gonna be sick…” Casey muttered out loud, her stomach turning a bit and the urge to throw up at the back of her throat. Surprisingly this comment alone seemed to get Iknar to stop his frantic running and actually stay still for longer than a few seconds. 

_ “Sick?” _The mental comment from Iknar seemed almost… to actually have a bit of genuine sounding concern in its monotone in the, what she could only assume as, two days she’s known the alien. Now naturally she would have responded, mostly to try and settle his nerves… but the twisting in her stomach had other ideas as she felt the return of the damn tasteless alien root coming back up.

Luckily for Iknar’s sake, she had enough physical control to swallow it back as best she could… though she dared not open her mouth even once should the temptation come back.

_ Oh god… it actually has a taste the second time around. _Casey thought in quiet disgust, still able to taste a bit of the, originally, flavorless garelekki root in the back of her throat and her tongue. 

_ “.... A new course of action is needed it seems.” _Iknar stated, beginning to move with more of a purpose now, but not as fast as he was going earlier. Casey blinked and stared at the back of the aliens head in confusion ... also quietly taking note how in better lighting he wasn’t actually grey in color like she thought, rather he was a pale blue with really light green accents across his carapis like body. The light also seemed to reflect off him a little bit as well, reminding her of one of the beetles in her sister's insect collection.

_ He’s like… a big, boney cat bug. _Casey thought to herself as he took a better look at the bone like protrusions on Iknar’s shoulders, and limbs. In the better lighting they now seemed to shine with a dangerous light ... and there seemed to be a hint of a slowly drying liquid around the claws of his left hand. 

_ A big, pointy cat bug… with working thumbs. _ Casey mentally corrected herself. _ Wait a minute…. _

Actually now able to fight back the urge to throw up, Casey finally seemed to register what the Argoka said.

“What… new course of action?” 

Iknar seemed to either not notice, which Casey highly doubted considering the aliens heightened sense of hearing, or honestly just ignored her as he would seem to stop only for a second or two at a time before starting off again. 

“Iknar? Talk to me buddy…” Casey tried again, worry starting to creep up, and twisting her agitated stomach.

_ “... If you are unwell, medical attention and rest is appropriate to incorporate in this plan.” _Iknar finally explained, while opening a door and ducking inside quickly with the human still clinging onto him. The sounds of heavy footfalls, gunshots and bodies hitting the floor telling both exactly what was happening outside. The sounds made Casey’s stomach drop and reflexively look away from the door to try and focus on anything besides the death happening outside.. 

Taking proper note of where they stepped into, it seemed to be a crew member’s living quarters of sorts. It was a little cramped, clearly only made to be slept in and get dressed in, with a small desk for perhaps personal writings or readings. Did they even have paper out in space? 

_ Well… they sorta had toilet paper so I guess? _Casey thought, remembering earlier the familiar, yet not, bathroom system. Hell it took her awhile just to figure out how to get the damn thing to flush… let alone turn on the faucet. It was worse than trying to get one of those sensor controlled faucets to work back on earth.

Back to the room, Casey actually was able to focus on something that was on the table. Taking the initiative and letting go of Iknar, dropping to the floor and thankfully not landing on his tail. The human went over to the desk to get a better look at the item. 

It looked like one of those swiss army knives, her step-father Frank carried one around as a just in case often and even let her use it once or twice. Instead of the red, more plastic-like handle she was used to seeing, this one was blue and had a feel of cold metal to it. There were strange symbols engraved on the side that all seemed connected and spelling something out in their alien ways. There seemed to be a small, almost hidden switch on the thick blue metal. There seemed to be five different things in it, one being a knife, a mini pair of scissors, a screwdriver with a head that she couldn’t name off the top of her head, what was probably a bottle opener and surprisingly a flashlight.

_ “Did you find something that could be useful?” _Iknar “spoke” up, snapping Casey out of her examination of the semi familiar tool.

“... in a knife fight yeah, but definitely not a gun fight. I mean, unless I could somehow throw it at someone’s eye and blind them with it.” Casey chuckled humorlessly as she pocketed the tool, after all, you never really knew when you would need some of those tools and of course the flash light could definitely be helpful some point in time.

_ “A weapon would still be a good idea for you to have. This one's limited observations have not found anything about humans that would suggest a physical advantage without one.” _Iknar pointed out, his reflective eyes staying on the door, possibly waiting for the fighting outside to die down a bit.

“Dude, stop wounding my pride like that!” Casey groaned while softly banging her head onto the table.

_ “This one is wounding you now?” _the Argoka turned to look at the human, the faint hint of concern visible in his black eyes.

“Figure of speech buddy… You Argoka are very literal aren’t you?”

Iknar blinked, his head tilting to the side as he tried to process what she asked him.

_ “What is a… figure of speech?” _

“Jesus Christ.”

_ “This one has no idea what that is.” _

“No, no I mean… damn how am I gonna explain it…” Casey muttered, putting a hand to her chin in thought for a bit. A small part of her quietly thankful for the distraction from outside.

“It’s like… when you don’t mean what you say… kinda like a joke in some cases, sarcasm in others, or, uh, OH! For example when I said I was gonna be sick earlier!”

_ “... You were not sick?” _

“Well… I mean kinda, more like motion sick with you whipping around like that. Seriously though, warn me ahead of time if you’re going to do that. But what I’m trying to say is, people will sometimes say that if they feel very nervous, or disgusted, or even like earlier with me when I was getting thrown around like an inflatable tube man!” Casey explained, feeling slightly proud of herself for coming up with an explanation… though Iknar seemed to be staring at her blankly… Was there any other way he stared though?

_ “.... humans are complex beings.” _

“Hey, same to you buddy. Same to you.” Casey smirked, sitting down completely into the bed and then blinking in surprise at how soft it was. She was half expecting it to feel like it was a metal slab with fabric on it, but really it felt like one of those soft cushiony beds seen in advertisements. Just as she was half tempted to collapse backwards onto the bed Iknar had to ruin it by opening the door.

_ “Time to move.” _

“Five more minutes?”

_ “No time.” _

“Fuck.”

Forcing herself away from the bed of her dreams Casey followed Iknar out into the hallway only to wince loudly at the sight of the dead aliens in the halls… one of which was the same insectoid alien she had seen in her cage.

_ The… Hearoshin right? Damn… _Casey thought, a shudder going down her back as she turned her attention back to Iknar, patiently waiting for her.

“I can walk you know.”

_ “The last time you saw dead beings, you froze.” _

“Yeah, well I was still in shock and we really shouldn’t be arguing right now.”

_ “Valid point. Come, this one knows where to go.” _ Iknar seemed to stay standing on his back legs this time as Casey followed behind, having to jog a little to keep up with what the alien seemed to show as a casual pace.

_ Wait… earlier he was looking around for a random escape… and now he knows? Well… Iknar did say plans changed but… what exactly changed? _Casey thought to herself as she quietly followed, a hand slipping its way into her pocket and lightly touching at the “Space Army Knife”,as she was now mentally calling it, feeling just a little bit safer with it now.

A shout in an alien language however, shot whatever comfort Casey felt in that moment right in its gut and drained the little hope out. With little to no warning after the shout, Iknar grabbed her arm quickly, claws accidently cutting little holes into the sleeve of her hood, and practically threw her into a different hallway as he turned around to attack the other alien.

“Iknar!” Casey shouted, both in surprise and worry before letting out a yelp of fear when the gunfire began. Reflexively she kept her head down and lowered herself into a crouch as she peeked around the corner to see what was happening.

At the other end of the hall were three different aliens, all dressed like the guards she had seen while in containment with their dark brown colorations compared to the unknown white and blue uniformed ones she saw when the holding area had been broken into. One of them seemed to be the jellyfish-like Kaimoushun alien, while the other two seemed to be of a similar species that had fur, though one had much more pointed ears, a flatter face and four arms that had three fingers, while the other had rounded ears, two arms and a long almost lemur like tail. Oh and all of them were firing their guns at the quickly approaching Argoka.

Iknar himself, seemed to not care that he was being shot at with how calculated his movements seemed to be as he rushed through the rain of bullets without seeming to be hit once… not even when he jumped onto one of the walls before using it as a springboard to launch himself at one of the two furred aliens. 

Casey watched as Iknar dug his claws deep into the smaller alien’s neck, almost severing its head completely before the skeletal-like alien immediately swung the body around as a shield for the gunfire. Her friend then quickly advanced on the last two, causing both to stumble back in fear, or on reflex, only to have the meat shield Iknar was using get thrown right at them. It knocked the other furred one down while the Kaimoushun was at least quick enough to get out of the way… but seemed to have run out of ammo for her, Casey was just gonna assume it was a “her” as Iknar had told her the jellyfish alien was an “incubator” of her species, gun and was using one of her other tendrils to try and get the extra ammo for it.

Iknar on the other hand, seemed to keep advancing towards the jellyfish alien, his tail only flicking quickly with the natural blade on the end extended to slash the throat of the fallen alien before it could get up to try to fight again. Cold reflective eyes seemed to be locked on the fearful alien, before he unleashed a quick burst of speed and dug his sharp claws into the alien’s head, just as she was about to scream probably… and then ripped the head right in half.

To say the scene was sickening was an understatement… Casey felt a large sense of dread and fear coiling around her entire body and mixing with the nausea she thought she had gotten over not to long ago. Watching how Iknar took those aliens down… it vaguely reminded her of those Terminator movies her mom would watch with her step dad sometimes, or rather how it would probably feel to be facing down something like that in real life.

_ “We’re clear for now.” _The emotionless tone he had didn’t help the comparison now either.

“R… right….” _ Oh god, note to self try to NOT get on his bad side… _Casey shuddered, waiting for Iknar to lead the way. She noticed how his head tilted slightly as he saw her body quivering in a new found fear.

_ “Is there something wrong? Has the temperature turned to something a human can not handle?” _Iknar questioned, carefully leading the way, but also still looking down to the shorter being he was with.

“I… n… no. Not really…” Casey muttered, one of her hands feeling the ripped up sleeve of her hoodie. Her eyes glanced down to Iknar’s bloodied claws for a moment and shuddered again at the thought of those cutting through more than just her sleeve.

_ “... It appears this one miscalculated the grip strength necessary to get you to a safe point.” _ Iknar pointed out, his eyes seeming to have taken her ripped sleeve into account. Casey for her part flinched just enough that Iknar blinked, seeming to put together what was happening now. _ “... This one made an error… This one will take more precautions to not let something like this happen again.” _

“... Okay.” And honestly that’s all she could say. Her mind was swirling with far too many questions to sort them out properly, but giving the current matter at hand she had to push all of them to the back burner of her mind.

….

A young man who, while physically looked to be in his early twenties, seemed all the more older with how he carried himself. His brown eyes locked onto his targets, while aiming his “standard issue” assault rifle the commander had everyone carry for these raids. 

_ “Lieutenant, we got an issue in the cargo hold!” _A voice over his comlink called out to him, able to be heard over the gunfire that he and a few members of his group rained down on the black market traffickers. 

“Was there a trap set up there or something Bragen?” The human lieutenant, Ethan Dorando asked after double checking that he and his squad were in the clear at the moment.

_ “More like two of the cargo got out and seemed to kill a couple men… Froquence says it looks to be the handy work of at least one of those bugs!” _

“You have gotta be shitting me… These bastards actually got their hands on some of those monsters?!” Ethan exclaimed, mentally cursing himself for losing his cool so easily… but then again he was only recently promoted and this “standard raid” was supposed to be ample time to further his training for the position he was in.

“These assfuckers have some bug on their ship?!” One of the aliens, and Ethan’s closest friend and comrade, exclaimed with a loud hiss. The rest of his squad were now slowly shifting to different levels of discomfort, and at least one switching into pure fear.

“Zeta, make sure you get the others to switch to heavy rounds… I need to confirm this all to Commander Vel.” Ethan commanded, a look of worry on his face as he looked to the intimidating looking alien.

Zeta made a grunt of confirmation, all four sets of his claws all practically attempting to dig into the metallic floor beneath them while his three clawed hands gripped his weapon tightly. A look of concern deep in his four red eyes and a minor click of one of the mandibles on his cat like face was all that was needed for Ethan to know his closest friend was worried about him. The raised quills and flicking twin tails were also enough to tell Ethan, without the universal translator implanted in his skull, that Zeta was also completely eager to rip into the “Bugs” that were loose. 

Turning away for a moment as his group was preparing the heavy ammo, Ethan immediately contacted the commander with a couple taps to his comlink. 

_ “There’s a situation isn’t there Lieutenant?” _The commander’s smooth tone responded as soon as the call connected.

“Bragen’s group reported signs of bugs on the ship Commander Vel.”

_ “Strange…” _

“Strange? How is that just “strange” sir?” 

_ “Strange as in, only one of our groups has reported it… yet no one else seems to have contacted you on more reports of bugs.” _

Ethan paused there, actually thinking about it for a minute. Normal reports of “Bug” activity are usually big in scale, spanning planets and galaxies worth of reports for just a single hive. If there were “Bugs” on the ship, why would only one group have reported on it already? 

“That… is actually pretty strange… You think their planning something?” Ethan questioned, glancing around his surroundings cautiously and even checking the ceiling to be safe.

_ “Given what little we do know about their intelligence levels… It would be stranger if they weren’t planning anything at all. Keep your eyes sharp Lieutenant, these things aren’t registered as “The Scourge of the Universe” for no reason.” _

“Yeah… Not helping my morale there sir.” Ethan quipped, a small smirk making its way onto his face despite the seriousness of his situation.

_ “Keep your smartass comments to yourself and focus on your mission Dorando.” _With that said, the commander shut off his end of the communications letting Ethan chuckle a little to himself.

“Whatever you say dad~” Ethan snickered and was just starting to get his heavy ammo ready when one of his group shouted, turning everyone’s attention to what was just entering into the hallway.

Standing at the standard 7’4”, or 223.5 cm, for the most common form found of these emaciated looking “Bugs” this one was by far the one that looked most like an insectoid with the shiny carapace… but was also eerily the most plain looking, which was a huge disadvantage in his groups case as one could usually tell from a look what type of differences these creatures would have in terms of strength, durability and speed based on what features they steal from the environments their hives destroyed. To have one with such an unremarkable look aside from extra blades on the limbs was concerning as they had no idea if it was to lower their guard with how much “weaker” it was to previous variants… or if this one was genuinely not as impressive as others of its kind.

What shocked Ethan more was that right behind this monster… was a human girl with tanned skin, neck length auburn hair that looked to curl a little outwards at the ends, a black sweatshirt with a white band logo and ripped faded blue jeans. From the distance he couldn’t really tell what her eye color was… but he could clearly see the surprise on her face when seeing him.

“Shit! It’s got a female!” one of his men shouted, getting ready to fire at the “bug” but from what he saw… Said “bug” positioned itself right in front of the human girl who had flinched in fear at his companion’s show of hostility.

“Hold your fire! It’s too close to the girl!” Ethan ordered, and getting the others to actually take their appendages off the triggers… but still holding the weapons at the ready in case of an attack.

_ “Wise decision.” _The voice, if Ethan could even call it that with how clear it was… and the fact it seemed to be in his head, was only a mild shock compared to his realization on just where the “voice” originated from. Glancing over to the rest of his squad he noticed they all also reacted, Zeta enough for his quills to lower in surprise and glance over his way as if to confirm what they heard.

“Did… Did you speak to them Iknar?” Ethan heard the girl ask, and he saw her looking up at the “Bug” with a look of confusion before it snapped to one of realization. “Wait, is THIS part of the “change in plans” you’ve been talking about?”

_ “Sickness and injuries were not originally taken into consideration at the start. Therefore plans had to be adjusted to account for future problems such as those.” _

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story idea that's been in the works for about four years between me and my IRL best friend rikkiroo1008. I just thought it was about time I finally got around to writing it, so here you go! Hope you all enjoy! (also I apologize if the first chapter seems a little slow, I need to build something up after all.)


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